Episode 55 (21st June 1961)
Plot The Rovers’ penny pile starts to grow. Jack realises he forgot to post the letter booking the Hotel Verdale in Torquay for their holiday but hides the fact from Annie. Relief manager Vince Plummer is coming to spend a few days at the pub to get to know the place before the holiday. Jack gets Billy to post the letter on the quiet. David's workmates give him a travelling clock as a leaving present. His foreman tells him he'll try and get him his job back if London doesn't work out. Dennis sends presents for the baby - two tins of strained carrots and a toy gun. Elsie invites the Cheveskis to live in No.11 for a while when Linda is discharged so she can help them but Ivan refuses, saying they have to stand on their own feet. Elsie takes no offence. Tom is surprised that Brian is coming to join him and Esther for tea. Esther tells Brian that Tom has problems fitting in anywhere. David prepares for his departure in two days’ time. Billy wants to go to London as well and David invites him for a drink if they should meet up there. Ida breaks down as David packs his things, saying he’s too young to leave home. Frank comforts her but she is upset again when he finds the Australia book in Ken’s briefcase. Doreen tells Florrie that she's fed up of a groping foreman at the factory. Esther leaves Tom and Brian alone for a while and Brian tells Tom he's driving Esther to a nervous breakdown with his refusal to settle down in worthwhile job. Tom can’t do that and confesses he’s decided to move on anyway, thinking of starting up a business with greyhounds. Frank confronts Ken about Australia. Amused, he tells his relieved parents the details were for a friend in college and has no intention of emigrating. Annie sees Billy chatting to David in the pub and tells Jack and Len she disapproves of the young lad moving to London, pleased that Billy is so settled in a good job locally. Across the pub, Billy tells David his boss's son is opening a garage in Chiswick and he wants to join him in moving south. Cast Regular cast *Annie Walker - Doris Speed *Concepta Riley - Doreen Keogh *Jack Walker - Arthur Leslie *Billy Walker - Kenneth Farrington *Harry Hewitt - Ivan Beavis *Len Fairclough - Peter Adamson *Ida Barlow - Noel Dyson *Frank Barlow - Frank Pemberton *Kenneth Barlow - William Roache *David Barlow - Alan Rothwell *Elsie Tanner - Patricia Phoenix *Ivan Cheveski - Ernst Walder *Esther Hayes - Daphne Oxenford *Florrie Lindley - Betty Alberge *Doreen - Angela Crow Guest cast *Foreman - Keith Marsh *Tom Hayes - Dudley Foster *Brian Foley - Denis Holmes Places *Rovers Return Inn - Public *3 Coronation Street - Back room and hallway *5 Coronation Street - Back room *11 Coronation Street - Back room *Corner Shop *Ajax Engineering - Gent's toilets Notes *Esther Hayes says she has continued to work with Brian Foley at Harringtons for years whereas in February 1961 it was established that she had got a new job at Hunter and Bowen, a mail order firm. *''TV Times: Every front door hides a story. Behind the front doors in Coronation Street are stories of excitement and joy, pathos and humour ''(This generic synopsis did not appear in all regional editions) *Viewing Figures: First UK broadcast - 5,680,000 homes (joint 5th place with Episode 54). Notable dialogue Billy Walker: "As far as I'm concerned, you can stick Coronation Street, the whole bloomin' lot of it; it's like bein' buried alive up here." Episode 055